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BE SILENT

BE SILENT - The Truth Is by Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji) The purpose of all practice is Silence, your real nature. Without Silence you cannot be in peace so strive only for this. Even while active remain in Silence as Silence and be conscious of Silence always. Ramana’s main teaching is Silence and it is this Silence that silently answers all questions and removes all doubts. Train your mind to go to Silence. As Kabir said: “Keep your body, your mind, your intellect, and your prana quiet and wisdom will follow behind you searching for you!” Be Silent by…

panta kathara tois katharois – to the pure, all things are pure!

Excerpt from the book ADHYATMIKTA QUOTE Legend, as mentioned in yāmala texts like Rudra and Brahma, attests to a story, with slight variations, wherein Vasistha, son of Brahma, practiced severe austerity in Blue Mountains, Nilachala, at the site of the celebrated temple of goddess Kāmākhyā. Unable to succeed in his sādhanā in spite of strenuous effort, an angry Vasistha asks Brahma for a different mantra, or he would curse this Mahāvidyāḥ. Brahma stops him from uttering the curse and then describes Tārā as a Supreme Shakti who saves from all dangers, as lustrous as ten million suns, as soothing as…

MANTRA SĀDHANĀ

The Mantra itself is Devatā, that is, the Supreme Consciousness (Cit-śakti) manifesting in that form. śṛṇu devi pravakṣāmi bījānām deva-rūpatām | mantroccārṇ amatrena deva-rūpam prajāyatte || Bṛhad-gandharva-Tantra (Ch. V) The Mantra is awakened from its sleep (Mantra-caitanya) through the Sādhana Śakti of the mantrin. It is at base one and the same Śakti which appears as Sādhana-Śakti and Mantra-śakti, the latter however being the more powerful manifestation. The consciousness of the Sādhaka becomes en rapport and in union with the Consciousness in the form of the Mantra; and the Devatā who is the Artha of the Mantra appears to the…

APARAJITASTUTI – Hymn to the Invincible Devi

The Chandipath is divided into three sections - charitras - each being equivalent to one of the three Veda-s: Rig, Sama, Yajur. The 3rd Charitra is the domain of Maharasraswati, and has given rise to some of the greatest theological and metaphorical interpretations of Shakta doctrine. The Bija of this section is Klim, which is representative of the Ananda aspect of Saccidananda. That of course takes nothing away from the battle stories, where we find some of the most terrifying forms of Devi appearing. Because maybe, constant Ananda is the toughest of all things to attain and needs the intervention…

THE SLAYING OF MAHISASURA (a liberal translation from the original text)

As he saw the army being slaughtered, Ciksura, the great asura general went ahead in tremendous fury to battle Ambika. He rained showers of arrow on the Devi just as clouds shower the summit of Mount Meru. But easily shattering those volley of arrows, the Devi, in turn, killed Ciksura's horses and charioteer. Like lightning She slashed through his flag and bow, cutting them in half, and wounded the asura general using swiftly dispatched arrows. With his bow broken, chariot wrecked, horses and charioteer slain the asura now picked up his sword and shield and rushing at the Devi, struck…

Importance of Pitr Karma

Every year during the second fortnight of the lunar month of Bhardrapada, right after the Ganesha puja, a period of 14 days is set aside for offering reverence to ancestors, known as pitrpaksha. During this time, many traditional Hindus perform pitr tarpana, pitr shraddha, and pinda danaeither at home, or preferably near river banks, wherein one pays homage to ones departed ancestors. The word shraaddha (श्राद्ध) indicates that the act is to be performed with sincere faith shraddhā (श्रद्धा). There is of course another lesser known pitrpaksha in the first half of the year, but it is the one during Bhadrapada, which is considered more significant. Pitr Yajna…

ADHIKARA: Spiritual Competency

Men vary in capacity, temperament, knowledge and general advancement, and therefore the means (for Sadhana also means instrument) by which they are to be led to enlightenment must vary. Methods which are suitable for highly advanced men will fail as regards the ignorant and undeveloped for they cannot understand them. What suits the latter has been long out-passed by the former. At least that is the Hindu view. It is called Adhikara or competency. Thus some few men are competent (Adhikari) to study Vedanta and to follow high mental rituals and Yoga processes. Others are not. Some are grown-up children…

Siddha Kunjika Stotram

The modern text of the Chandipath that comes to us is an aggregate of various stotras and parts which were added over time, around the core of the 13 main chapters and which are helpful for sadhana. At the very end of the text we have the Siddha Kunjika Stotram which is often regarded as a subtitute for the whole text. Understood in the right context the Kunjika is an integral part of Chandipath, but it does not replace the necessity of the main text, for each section of the Chandipath has its own power and utlity and taken together…

Sri Aurobindo: When Does a Mantra Succeed?

The japa is usually successful only on one of two conditions – if it is repeated with a sense of its significance, a dwelling of something in the mind on the nature, power, beauty, attraction of the Godhead it signifies and is to bring into the consciousness, – that is the mental way; or if it comes up from the heart or rings in it with a certain sense or feeling of bhakti making it alive, – that is the emotional way. Either the mind or the vital has to give it support or sustenance. But if it makes the…

Ramana Maharishi on Guru

I have not said that a Guru is not necessary. But a Guru need not always be in human form. First a person thinks that he is inferior and that there is a superior, all-knowing, all powerful God who controls his own and the world’s destiny and worships him or does bhakti. When he reaches a certain stage and becomes fit for enlightenment, the same God whom he was worshipping comes as Guru and leads him onward. That Guru comes only to tell him, ‘That God is within yourself. Dive within and realize’. God, Guru and the Self are the same. Realization is the result of the Master’s (Guru’s) grace, more than…